Industrial Instrumentation and Process Control

HART is a protocol that sends digital data over the same two wires as a 4-20 mA analog signal, so one instrument gives you both. The FieldComm Group, which maintains HART, says it provides two simultaneous communication channels, the 4-20 mA analog signal and a digital signal, and that the digital signal runs at 1200 bps without interrupting the 4-20 mA signal. The digital channel carries extra information such as device status and diagnostics. The course explains HART and smart transmitters alongside the 4-20 mA loop calculations.

The usual standard for instrument symbols and tag numbers on a P&ID is ISA-5.1, published by the International Society of Automation. ISA says the standard establishes a uniform means of depicting and identifying instrumentation and control functions, and its 2024 revision renamed it Instrumentation and Control Symbols and Identification. The course teaches you to read a P&ID, so you can recognise the tags and symbols on real drawings.

An instrumentation technician installs, calibrates, tests and repairs the instruments that measure and control a process. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics groups this work under electrical and electronic engineering technologists and technicians, whose duties include building, calibrating and repairing electrical instruments, and it gives their median annual wage as $78,190 in May 2025. BLS projects employment in that group to grow 2 percent from 2025 to 2035. Pay varies a lot by country and industry, so treat the US figure as a reference point only.

No. A multimeter and any 4-20 mA transmitter or a loop calibrator make the loop modules hands-on, but every practice task can be done on paper.

Both. Technicians get the principles behind what they wire and calibrate; engineers get the field reality behind the P&ID. The calculations module is the one interviewers ask about.

Oil and gas, power, chemicals, pharma, water, cement, food and any plant with a control room. The instruments and the 4-20 mA loop are the same everywhere.

The animations show the principle in two minutes, and the notes and practice tasks add the depth: ranges, wiring, failure modes and the calculations.

Yes. Every module, practice task and assessment. You create an account so your progress is saved and the assessments can be marked. The certificate is the only paid item, and only if you want it.

An EDWartens Certificate of Completion, issued when you pass the final assessment, with a verification code anyone can check. It is not an ISA, vendor or government credential and is never described as one.

The creators named in the Credits block at the foot of this page, on their own YouTube channels. EDWartens did not make the videos and the creators are not affiliated with EDWartens. What EDWartens wrote is the study plan, the notes, the practice tasks and the assessments.